It has been a very quiet offseason for president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons. However, the one move that the organization had to make during the summer was accomplished.
The Pistons, who have lost in the Eastern Conference finals two straight years, re-signed All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups to a lucrative, multi- year contract. Billups is the glue of the Pistons, and is the catalyst for everything that makes them successful.
Billups, who was the MVP of the 2004 NBA Finals, averaged 17.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and a team-best 7.2 assists in 70 games during the 2006-07 regular season. The 6-3 Billups, who has also spent time with Boston, Toronto, Denver and Minnesota during his 10-year career, has found a home in Detroit.
A two-time All-Star, Billups teams with Richard Hamilton to make up arguably the best backcourt in the NBA. By keeping Billups in the fold, Dumars has made sure that his squad will once again be one of the top teams in the East. The nucleus of Billups, Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace will try to get the Pistons back into the championship round for the first time since 2005, when San Antonio defeated Detroit in seven games to win the title.
Keeping Billups was a given, as the Boston Celtics have narrowed the gap in the conference and arguably returned to elite status with the acquisition of All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen during the summer. Detroit has appeared in the East finals five straight years, but has fallen to Miami and Cleveland the last two years.
With the emergence of the Celtics, Chicago and Cleveland, the Pistons need to prepare themselves for some tougher competition in the East. Getting back to the conference finals is definitely not a given anymore. LeBron James and the Cavaliers will be ready to defend their Eastern Conference title, while Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and the Bulls, who fell in six to Detroit in the semifinals in last year's postseason, keep improving and may be ready to make a jump to the next level.
Dumars did make some other minor moves this offseason. He traded Carlos Delfino to Toronto, signed free agent forward Jarvis Hayes and also re-signed forward Amir Johnson. But he didn't trade Wallace, and ended up keeping his team's core intact. Having a quiet offseason may end up being the best thing Dumars could have done. He has shown his team that he is confident in its ability to get back to the finals, and still feels they are a force to be reckoned with in the East, no matter what moves the competition has made.

Why bother writing about those guys when the Pistons have a history of pinning them to the pine and letting them go for peanuts.

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Not recently. Before they took it personally. Now they live off it. When they were down 3-2 on of the Pistons said they had the advantage because they were the better team. How about you prove it then? Know what I mean?

Actually, I think the entire Pistons team is under the radar once again. That's okay.

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They can't live off that though. Before they were under radar and they were actually under the radar. Now they say we are under the radar, but we are the better team and expect to win the game after walking on the court.

I actually don't know that for sure, so I will take that back. It's either that, or Flip is not doing a good enough job of having some discipline.

I'm tentative on Jmax. I love the fire & desire, but I'm skeptical of his future contributions, by the numbers. Ben Wallace attitude, but confined by Corliss-like physical attributes/abilities. I just don't see him as starter material...6th man at best. I hope he proves me wrong.

AJ is another story. There's nothing I've seen or read about him that casts doubt in my mind to a great NBA career. I hope it's all with the Pistons.

We can play under the radar because our so called superstars have somewhat underachieved the past couple of years come post season.

Even though this article gives a positive slant on the Pistons fortunes, most of the media still believes the window is closing fast on the old boys from Motown because they are not familiar with our youth.

When other teams can boast the likes of almost King James in Cleveland. Shaq and Kobe in South Beach, Pierce, Garnett, and He-Got-Game in Bean town, Agent Zero & Co in DC, and Big & Lil Ben and Deng in Chi-town., the media will allways fall in love with the supa-named stars and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Even if we languish in second or third place most of the season and grab no less than the 4th seed, we should still be good and ready by then to get back to EC finals and surprise whoever the opponent is....but remember we got to win in five, because that sixth game is a killer for Flip